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National Development Fund of Iran

Iran

Purpose

NDFI is a developmental entity, established on January 5, 2011, to direct a portion of oil and gas revenues towards productive, sustainable investments as well as preserving the funds for future generations without doing harm to current generation. Its steadily growing assets, based on the Law, should be allocated to domestic private sector or invested in foreign monetary/financial markets. The other purpose of NDFI is to manage external shocks and insulate the Government’s budget against oil revenue fluctuations.

Accumulation

The main source of revenue for NDFI is a portion of oil and gas exports, which started by 20% in 2011 and increases by 3% per annum.

Governance Structure

The governing bodies of NDFI include the Board of Trustees, including some cabinet ministers, members of parliament, attorney general and representatives of chamber of commerce headed by the president of the country, the Supervisory Board, including the main supervisory bodies of administration, legislation and judiciary, and the Executive Board, comprising 5 highly qualified figures. NDFI is independent from the government and has its own corporate governance. NDFI financial facilities are not granted nor extended as loan to the Government. If the equity or managerial share of Government in a company exceeds 20%, that company will not be eligible to access NDFI loans.

Macroeconomic Role

Regarding the huge resources and its consistent inflow from oil and gas revenues, NDFI limits the access of Government to oil revenues and redirects the funds to profitable sustainable investments done by the domestic or foreign private sector. Foreign investors to Iran, similar to Iranian private sector, can enjoy NDFI facilities. So, NDFI could be very influential in helping private sector and in boosting domestic economy to benefit from foreign investors’ technical and managerial knowledge. NDFI is committed to the Generally Accepted Principles and Practice known as Santiago Principles, and consistently tries to improve its transparency and corporate governance.

Investment Policy

For the time being, NDFI prefers to invest in low-risk financial instruments. It has a clear mandate regarding type of investments and asset classes. Based on its Articles of Association, NDFI is authorized to invest in Financial and money markets’ instruments. It can extend buyer’s credit and also provide financing for Iranian companies working abroad in order to boost export of goods and services. Reporting and Audit Articles of Association require NDFI to prepare timely reports, in 4, 6 and 12 months periods. The detailed reports are submitted to Board of Trustees, Supervisory Board and Parliament and some reports are prepared and released for practitioners.

Contact Details

Become a Member

We welcome applications for membership from SWFs willing to endorse the Santiago Principles on a voluntary basis. Please contact us at secretariat@ifswf.org for more details and/or see presentation below.